Baked Sunday Mornings: Toasted Pumpkin Seed Brittle

 It’s been years since I’ve been in school, but I still manage to have anxiety dreams about not knowing I was enrolled in a class and not having my homework done for the class every now and again. I had one last night, which may or may not have had to do with getting this week’s Baked Sunday Mornings post up. You see, last week I managed to make the recipe, but then due to various factors, did not get around to posting. However, even though I did not pre-write my post ahead of time, this is the first Sunday morning in weeks that I haven’t had a long run or a race on my agenda, therefore; barring any computer problems, which are entirely possible these days,I would have plenty of time to write about this week’s selection, Toasted Pumpkin Seed Brittle. (And there are my Joe Froggers from last week below.) 

 I hadn’t made any sort of brittle in a long time and thought making candy was a fun selection for Halloween week. As I was patiently waiting for my sugar mixture to become “almost clear,” I decided to look at the group’s website to see if any of the other bakers had perhaps mentioned how long this might take, as it seemed to be taking a while. I decided to just push up the heat a little, since low on my stove is really low. I also decided to break out the candy thermometer to make sure the sugar got to 300 degrees, which took eight minutes after the butter melting, which is how long the recipe said it would take. I just get way too nervous about burning caramel, so I like to have the extra insurance of the thermometer rather than just visual cues. 

I thought the brittle was excellent. I had thought the total amount of salt in the recipe seemed high, but it ended up being perfect. In addition to the cinnamon, I added a pinch of cardamom, and think it perhaps could have done with a bit more spice. I am more inclined to snack on treats of the nutty/seedy variety than Josh is, so I am thinking the majority of this brittle will probably need be taken to one of our offices tomorrow. You can see how the rest of the group fared with this treat by checking out the other bakers’ links on the Baked Sunday Mornings site.

Baked Sunday Mornings: atmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones

Over the past five years I have run numerous road races. There have been a few that have been not so great (usually involving hilly streets in in San Francisco), many that I have enjoyed and/or learned something from, and one particularly spectacular day in 2010 that involved completing a marathon and a proposal. There are a few common factors that pretty much all races I run have: Josh is with me, Rihanna is on the playlist, and I eat a Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch Clif Bar before the race. This week’s Baked Sunday Mornings selection, Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones, is basically the awesome pastry version of my pre-race fuel of choice, so naturally I felt pre-disposed to like it. 

These scones did not disappoint. I mean, seriously, peanut butter and chocolate chips for breakfast? No complaints here. Other than the chocolate chips, there really was not an excessive amount of sugar in the recipe - I have definitely made more decadent scones. I gave one to Josh warm out of the oven and he pronounced it “ridiculously good.”  (And went on to have a second shortly thereafter.)  I had made some healthy-ish muffins for his breakfasts last week, and he ate them, but these are definitely a step up in the breakfast department. 

You can find the recipe here on the Baked Sunday Mornings website and check the other bakers’ links here.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Burnt Sugar Bundt Cake with Caramel Rum (Vanilla) Frosting

I tend to be a very indecisive person. Sure, this is fine for major decisions, but my husband frequently has to remind me that cookbooks I am buying will not be the last I ever purchase when it takes me five days to place an Amazon order or that I will have another treat tomorrow when I agonize over whether I want a cookie or an ice cream cone. Yesterday morning I was having a hard time deciding what to make for dinner that night (it had to be good - I always make something nice on Saturday, not to mention it was the first night of National League baseball playoffs). The upside to last night’s meal? I knew no matter what I made for dinner,* we would have a fabulous dessert, as I had already made this week’s Baked Sunday Mornings selection, Burnt Sugar Bundt Cake with Caramel Rum (Vanilla) Frosting, from Baked Explorations. 

Bundt cakes are naturally beautiful, as you make them in a pretty pan, and rarely have more than a light glaze or dusting of powdered sugar to decorate them. This one had both a generous layer of frosting and a garnish, which borders on being a little gaudy and over-the-top sugary (I am trying not to think about how much sugar was involved - let’s just say it’s a good thing we buy ten-pound bags of it at Costco), but it works in both aesthetics and flavor. The cake in the book is very dark, which made me worry I didn’t cook my caramel mixture long enough. I was happy when I bit into it and tasted a nice carmelly cake with a nice sturdy crumb, rather than just a plain sugary cake. I almost wonder if the cake in the book was made with brown sugar. 

Two weeks in and we are very pleased with the selections for this group! You can find the recipe and see how the other bakers fared on the Baked Sunday Mornings site.

*Dinner ended up being exceptionally good, too, meaning the only disappointing part of the evening was the Giants losing. I made Pork Shoulder Ragu with Papparedelle, from Dinner: a Love Story (DALS), which is quickly becoming one of my favorite cookbooks and has generated a handful of go-to recipes in the past few months. You can find the recipe for the pork ragu on the DALS website, here.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Whole-Wheat Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

Well. I certainly didn’t intend to post one recipe for Tuesdays With Dorie 2.0 and then stop posting for 8(!) months. I won’t bore you with a litany of excuses; the blog just got low on my priority list and I just decided that it wasn’t worth stressing myself out about something that was supposed to be fun. Yeah, I managed to get stressed out about a baking group. Every now and then I would mention I wanted to start doing it again and my husband would always encourage me to join another group - you know, since I had enjoyed doing it before, not at all because he wanted yummy treats. 

Anyway, I recently saw a blog post pop up in my Google Reader with a recipe for the Baked Sunday Mornings group and, having recently purchased Baked Elements, felt inspired to dust off the blog. This week the selection was Whole-Wheat Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels. I am proficient at making yeast doughs, but Josh is much better than me at shaping dough (which we found out on the rare occasions I make garlic knots), so I enlisted his help and made this recipe a team effort. I did parcel out the dough for him in eight equal portions. He asked how I knew if the were all the same size and I told him him I weighed them. At which point he obviously realized who he was talking to (his very meticulous wife) and said, “of course you did.” As Josh was shaping the pretzels and I was preparing the baking soda bath to boil them, I remembered why I like being in a baking group so much. I have been baking on a regular basis, and though there has been the occasional batch of sticky buns or interesting treats, I admit that I have defaulted more to the cookie/fruit crumble spectrum of baking. 

It is fun to be back trying new things. I think pretzels are delicious, and not surprisingly, ones brushed with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar are even better. The one downside is the recipe’s disclaimer that they are best consumed within twelve hours. We are doing our best, though, and it is a slightly healthier endeavor than the one time I fried doughnuts at home and “forced” Josh to eat about eight chocolate doughnuts in twenty-four hours. (Above is a picture of the doughnuts, which I made two Octobers ago and never wrote about.) 

If you are interested in a great pretzel recipe and seeing more about Baked Sunday Mornings, you can check out the group’s website.

TWD/BWJ: White Loaves

Tuesdays with Dorie are back and this time we're Baking with Julia! I had this somewhat delusional idea that this time around I would totally be organized; baking and preparing my post ahead of time. Naturally I didn’t get around to baking this week’s recipe, White Loaves, until this past weekend. Then my plans to write my post ahead of time also got derailed due to working late last night and being too tired once I got home, so here I am on Tuesday night, finally getting my post up and happy to be here. I’m excited for the new challenge (there are some complicated looking recipes in the new book) and reading about everyone’s experiences - apparently there are over 300 bakers.



I find the most difficult part of baking basic yeast breads is planning the time for multiple rises without the bread taking over your entire day. I solved this by putting the bread in the refrigerator after shaping the loaves on Saturday evening. I was planning on letting them rise in the morning, but they actually got rather billowy in the refrigerator so I didn’t have to wait long (I let them sit out around half an hour to take the chill off) to bake them. I followed the recipe exactly as written, though I used about an ounce and a half less flour than the recipe called for. I loved the tip in the book of removing the loaves from the pan for the last ten minutes of baking - it gave the bread wonderful crust.

I didn’t find this bread difficult to make, so I am rating it a 3.5 for Effort and Josh rated it an 8.5 for Deliciousness, for an EDR of 2.42. Thank you to our hostesses, Laurie of Slush and Jules of Someone’s in the Kitchen for getting the group off to a great start; you can find the recipe here. To see how the other bakers fared, click over to the TWD site.

TWD: Kids' Thumbprints

In order to stay positive and motivate myself to get through the week, I try to think of little things to look forward to each day of the week. For example, Josh often picks me up from work on Mondays, and on Wednesdays we run six miles together, eat Chinese food, and watch “Top Chef.” Tuesday’s thing is obviously Tuesdays With Dorie and it makes me sad that this is the very last TWD with this incarnation of the group. In February 2012, we will start a new book, Baking with Julia, but Kids’ Thumbprints are the very last recipe in Baking.



I have always enjoyed baking, but since joining the group I have greatly expanded my repertoire and attempted many desserts I otherwise would not have tried. There was a point when I was so enthusiastic about the book that I thought I would bake every single recipe in it. Though I greatly admire those who have, I realized that was not a practical option for me at this point in my life. Josh (who has gone from boyfriend to fiance to husband since I began baking with TWD) would keep tabs on my baking to-do lists and help me edit based on time and his ability to consume the output. I do hope someday I have more time to take photographs and blog (I do seem to manage to bake plenty of treats). The very best part of TWD is definitely reading about the other bakers’ experiences each week. Not surprisingly, people who enjoy baking for others are incredibly nice and I am happy to have been introduced to such an amazing community.



So the thumbprints? I brought them to work and they disappeared before I had a chance to try one. Luckily I had left a few at home so I managed to have a taste and they are super-yummy, not to mention a perfect treat to make during the holidays. We rated them a 7.5 for Deliciousness and I gave them a 3 for Effort, for an EDR of 2.5. We are lucky enough to have the lovely Dorie herself hosting this week; I hope you enjoy reading her post as much as I did. Many thanks to her and all the other bakers for giving me something to look forward to on Tuesdays. I can’t wait for the fun to continue in February!

P.S. The cookie jar featured in this post was a gift passed on from Josh's mom shortly after Josh and I moved in together. Josh has since purchased a very cute retro-style owl cookie jar for me, but I love picturing Josh as a little towhead grabbing cookies from this one!

TWD Rewind: World Peace Cookies

For the penultimate Tuesdays With Dorie, we were given a rewind option. Josh’s office had its annual cookie exchange last week. I had lofty plans to try a new recipe, but my limited spare time made me go with the more practical option of making a tried and true favorite: World Peace Cookies. World Peace Cookies were one of the few recipes I had made before I joined the group and I have probably made them more than any other recipe in Baking. Josh said they were a hit and several of his co-workers complimented my baking when I saw them at their Christmas party on Saturday. I didn’t get a chance to photograph them (and though I am too lazy to check for sure, I think I have erased my old photos), so that is why I am posting photos of my dog in a scarf. I don’t think I’ve ever posted them before and even if I had, I think it would be worth rewinding to. I promise I will manage to bake and post (hello, vacation!) our very last TWD recipe next week. To see what the other bakers rewound to, check out the TWD site.